Why is TikTok getting banned in the US – and could it happen in the UK?
TikTok’s days are numbered after the Supreme Court backed a ban in the US.
Lawmakers had told the social media platform’s China-based owner to sell up or move on when Congress passed a law to otherwise ban it last year.
Instead, owner ByteDance appealed to the USA’s highest court, which has now ruled 9-0 in favour of the law.
Now TikTok’s 170million US users face losing the following they’ve amassed and the For You Pages they’ve carefully trained the algorithm to curate.
For Brits, that means no more of your favourite American influencers, and no more flame wars over whose food is more beige, bland and bizarre.
In a statement, the White House said: ‘TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law.’
Why is TikTok getting banned in the US?
TikTok has been accused of posing a national security risk because of data harvested from users.
‘Do we want the data from TikTok – children’s data, adults’ data – to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?’, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said in March last year.
China’s government insists it would never ask Chinese companies to ‘collect or provide data, information or intelligence’ held abroad.
But a 2017 National Intelligence Law requires ‘any organization’ to cooperate with and collect evidence with Chinese state intelligence
Although TikTok says it stores US user data in Singapore and the US, not China, its CEO Shou Zi Chew did admit that there is a Chinese official on the ByteDance board.
Combined with the size of TikTok’s audience, and the power of its algorithm for recommending engaging content, there is a fear it could be used to influence the US public.
Misinformation and influence campaigns are rampant on other platforms – like Facebook, X and Instagram too – but they haven’t been singled out in the same way.
TikTok’s refusal to sell is seen as proof by US Republicans that their fears were fair.
Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Republicans, said: ‘ByteDance and its Chinese Communist masters had nine months to sell TikTok before the Sunday deadline.
‘The very fact that Communist China refuses to permit its sale reveals exactly what TikTok is: a communist spy app.
‘The Supreme Court correctly rejected TikTok’s lies and propaganda masquerading as legal arguments.
When does it come into force?
TikTok has until Sunday, January 19, to sell. If it doesn’t find a non-China-based buyer, a US ban will come into force. No sale appears imminent.
In a statement on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: ‘TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law.’
But, with Donald Trump due to be inaugurated on Monday, the Biden administration is leaving it for his successor to decide what to do.
So it could be banned as soon as Sunday, or some time next week, if Trump – who opposes the ban – doesn’t overturn it.
How does the ban work and could it be lifted?
In a statement, TikTok said: ‘Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.’
Existing users will still have the app on their phones, and will be able to open it. But what they see may be different, even if it’s not quite a dark screen.
TikTok is understood to be planning to redirect users to a page showing information about the ban when they try to open the app from this date.
Enforcing a total ban is tricky when it’s already so widespread, but new users won’t be able to download TikTok because it will have been removed from Apple and Google app stores.
People using a VPN to appear as if they’re outside the US may still be able to download the app and use it as normal.
Trump, who has 14.8million followers on TikTok, could instruct the justice department to ignore the ban, but only temporarily.
Some Senators, both Republican and Democrat, have been calling for the ban to be reversed because they say it infringes on free speech.
As Trump has pegged himself to the issue of free speech, he may throw his weight behind these Senators and push Congress the pass a bill ending the ban.
Or, Trump may try to find a way for ByteDance to sell TikTok.
But TikTok – which has more than a billion users around the world, and just 170million in the US – might decide it can live without them.
Where else is TikTok banned?
Albania banned TikTok for a year starting at the end of 2024 after the government blamed it for an increase in domestic violence.
India banned TikTok along with 58 other Chinese-created apps in 2020 following escalating tensions between the two countries.
The Indian government said that it wanted to ‘protect the data and privacy’ of its citizens.
Pakistan has temporarily banned TikTok several times due to what it deems to be immoral content on the platform.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government has banned TikTok for similar reasons.
Jordan banned it after protests. Nepal did so because it said TikTok disturbed ‘social harmony and good will’.
It is also banned in Somalia due to ‘terrorists and immoral groups’ using it to ‘spread constant horrific images and misinformation’.
Uzbekistan banned it due to data protection concerns.
Some countries have banned TikTok on government-owned devices due to the risk of data collection and security risks. This includes Australia, Estonia, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan, as well as the EU.
In Russia, TikTok is still available but users can’t upload new videos.
There is a separate version of the app in China, called Douyin.
Could it happen in the UK?
Although TikTok is banned from government-issued phones, there is no evidence the UK is planning to ban the app entirely.
However, some MPs have raised concerns about the social media platform.
Liam Byrne, Labour MP and chair of the House of Commons business and trade committee, told the Financial Times that he was worried about TikTok’s role in the spread of disinformation.
‘If you’ve got an organisation that could be influenced by someone like China, that should be a matter of concern,’ he said.
Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith told Politico that the UK should follow America and also implement a ban.
What is being considered in the UK is a social media ban for under-16s, similar to one recently made law in Australia.
There is a private member’s bill – proposed by backbench Labour MP Josh MacAlister – that could, if it became law, increase the ‘age of internet adulthood’ from 13 to 16, but the details of this proposal are unclear.
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